Chrysler 300 Club International
Spring Meet in Memphis, TN
May 17 - 19, 1991




300C of Bill Woodman

300C of Spencer Siracusano

300F of Chris Fredrick



Jim Golden and his D

Jack Wiltse and his 79 300

Gail Olson, Pat Golden and Jerry Olson

The Memphis Pyramid



Bea and Tom Gorse, Jerry Kocur

Marilyn Cornfoot, Pat Golden, Jerry Olson, Gail Olson, Bea & Tom Gorse, Jim Golden with the camera & John Cornfoot







300B of Phil Irish

Alan Alkus and Phil Irish (meet hosts)

Photos by Bill Elder
21st Annual Spring Meet, Memphis Tennessee
by Alan Alkus and Phil Irish

Wednesday - May 16th

We started out by posting Chrysler meet signs that were painted by Dean Roberts, then checked the Ramada parking lot and were surprised to see some 300s a day before the meet! Some early arrivals were Dave McMurren, 67 300 convert and Bill Elder 64 300K convert, both from Ontario Canada; Spencer Siracusano, 300C from Des Moines, Iowa and Chris Frederick 300F from Pottsville, Pennsylvania.

Thursday – May 17th

Dinner Cruise – when we first planned the meet, we estimated that thirty to forty people would attend the first day’s activity, so we chartered a boat that would hold forty-five. Eleanor called us around the first of May and said “we have fifty-seven people already! Can we get a larger boat?” So we quickly chartered another boat but had to settle for an earlier departure time so Eleanor sent out letters to members explaining the earlier departure time and some people had to be sent refunds since they couldn’t be in Memphis for the earlier departure time.
We had been concerned about security for the cars so we asked the WPC Club Mid-South Chapter for volunteers for the 3 days. Norman Blackley shuttled us to and from the boat from a safe, distant parking lot and Jim Nelson guarded our cars while a total of sixty-nine of us enjoyed a fun-filled cruise down the Mississippi River and gorged ourselves on Memphis barbeque.

Friday – May 18th

Graceland Tour – After a nice drive to Graceland, our 300s were parked in a long row and the tour started at 11:00 A.M. Some just went to Elvis Presley’s mansion while others saw the automobile museum, a movie about Elvis, his tour bus and airplanes, including the large plane, LISA MARIE, named after his daughter. During the tour, the impressive line up of 300s attracted continuous attention in the parking lot. Many reminisced and a few did not recognize what they were but Phil Irish our “guard-guide” quickly informed them of the significance of what they were looking at and invited them to attend our car show the next day.
Business Meeting – the hospitality room had been free to the club to use for the 3 days and it was a perfect size for our gathering place and club store, but we had to request a few dozen more chairs to accommodate everyone who crowded in for the meeting.
Dash Plaque – we had hashed this out. What is famous about Memphis? New York has the Statue of Liberty; St; Louis has the Arch and Philadelphia has the Liberty Bell. Memphis has a “M” shaped bridge and a 32-story pyramid. (All of us saw these structures when we were on our dinner cruise on the Mississippi.) Meet co-host, Phil Irish’s 300B was also depicted on the dash plaque along with the bridge and pyramid.
T-shirts – An added attraction was custom t-shirts for those who wanted a souvenir of our 21st Spring Meet. In addition to making an ideal remembrance of a good time, they generated a small profit for the club. Meet co-host, Alan Alkus’s C300 was used for the car on the shirt.
Weather – We worried about the weather before the meet but fortunately, we only had a few sprinkles Saturday morning while the 300’s were parking at the car show.

Saturday – May 19th

Car Show – With the help of Fritz Crombie, arrangements were made with Kevin Naughton, part owner of Liberty Chrysler Plymouth, to use the back lot of the dealership for our car show. They also provided us with a large tent which was welcomed and gave us a place to get out of the light rain earlier and a shady spot later. Mr. Naughton also donated various items for our goody bags such as letter openers, copies of Mopar Performance News Magazine featuring the new 300 Concept Car and 10, one ounce silver commemorative “bill of rights” coins to be used as door prizes. Many thanks also to Rodger Holt, Liberty’s Service Manager, for expediently clearing the area for our show. There were 32 cars total with 19 of them being Letter 300s,
Awards Banquet – After a good dinner, it was time to announce the winners.

People’s Choice Awards

Group I: 1955 C300 – 1958 300D

1st Place 300D owned by Jim Golden, Topeka, Kansas

2nd Place 300C owned by Spencer Siracusano, Des Moines, Iowa

Group II: 1959 300E – 1962 300H

1st Place 300G owned by Joe James, Cape Girardeau, Missouri

2nd Place 300G owned by Bud Jones, Clarksville, Texas

Group III: 1963 300J – Hurst

1st Place 300L owned by Ken Quick, Mandan, North Dakota

2nd Place 300K cvt owned by bill Elder, Windsor, Ontario, Canada

Long Distance; Ken Quick, 300L – 1,0421 miles, from Mandan, North Dakota

Longest Distance: Alain Labas, from Servins, France

Hard Luck: Bill Woodman, Pueblo, Colorado, 300C – generator failure

Door prizes were then given out including lady’s jewelry and a magnificent C300 clock donated by Larry Jett. The winner of the clock was Ray Jones – The luck of the draw! No, no one went away, without at least some small prize.
Joe Baker, a local automotive historian, spoke to us about the history of Chrysler Corporation and Walter P. Chrysler’s involvement with other makes prior to building his own cars. Although Mr. Baker’s slide presentation did not have any Chrysler 300s, he did show us some very interesting automobiles. The depth and breadth of his knowledge made an interesting presentation and having him there was an innovative addition to our banquet and he was well received.

Sunday – May 20th

Most people left early for their trips home while others met for breakfast and said their “goodbyes and see you again at another meet.” Just let us know when you would like to come back to Memphis and we will gladly host another met.


Chrysler 300s at Memphis, Tennessee

C300: Alan Alkus; 300B: Charles Fabian, Phil Irish, Marlin Thyer; 300C: Spencer Siracusano, Bill Woodman; 300D: Jim Golden; 300F: Len Astroth, Mike Burke, Chris Fredrick; 300G: Adam Carter, Joe James, Bud Jones; 300J: George Riehl; 300K: Jerry Kocur (cvt), Bill Elder (cvt); 300L: Ken Quick, Robert Cornett (cvt); Hurst: Jerry Olson; 1966: Russ Vaughan;
1967: Dave McMurren (cvt); 1979: Jack Wiltse


Thanks to Bill Elder for typing this article for the web